Our Odd World
by The Threat
Summary: A couple of high-school teens try to survive in a world where every fictional character exists, in some shape or form.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: none of the characters used here are mine.

Note: only this first chapter is written as would be in a chatroom, with the intent of introducing the main characters. The rest of the story is in plain text.

* * *

HobbesPal: lookin' forward to school tomorrow?

HarveyGal: nah, you?

HobbesPal: not really

HarveyGal: well can't be worse than what i'm facing, righ?

HobbesPal: funny you should say that

HarveyGal: Y?

HobbesPal: do people at your school brag about what they have and tear you down if you dont?

HarveyGal: AND HOW!

HobbesPal: and strangely, they would also talk about you or anybody as rich as you with such distaste, because you can't stop bragging about all the things you've got

HarveyGal: consistancy is not their strong suit

HobbesPal: i guess not

HarveyGal: think youll survive until graduation?

[7 minutes later]

HobbesPal: sorry, hobbes was... hobbes

HarveyGal: maybe he and harvey should see each other more often

HobbesPal: two natural enemies? somethin to look forward to

HarveyGal: cant be worse than than being harassed by wilfred

HobbesPal: who?

HarveyGal: the dog next door

HobbesPal: ah

HarveyGal: speaking of our pets, how's toothless?

HobbesPal: he seems to be doing nice

HarveyGal: seems to be?

HobbesPal: remember those two sisters that live down the street?

HarveyGal: those you suspect are werewolves?

HobbesPal: yeah those. they seem scared of going into the woods now

HarveyGal: think toothless scared them off?

HobbesPal: must be

HarveyGal: i suppose the daily planet won't be mentioning anything about dead bodies in the woods any time soon

HobbesPal: more of a sentinel guy myself. or at least my folks are

HarveyGal: as long as they're smart enough to npt read the bugle, huh?

HobbesPal: so your family loves the planet?

HarveyGal: more like my brother, who's been obsessed with it since he got back

HobbesPal: how is he anyway?

HarveyGal: "a real collins", or so my uncle puts it

HobbesPal: weird sense of what's important

HarveyGal: i know. he doesn't seem the least bit curious about how oliver survived on that island. not even after i told him he talks in his sleep

HobbesPal: who talks in his sleep?

HarveyGal: oliver. he seems to dream about these "others", and some kind of black smoke

HobbesPal: and neither your mother or your uncle are worried?

HarveyGal: i told them he talks in their sleep, but i didn't tell them what about

HobbesPal: why not?

HarveyGal: because i'm afraid of how he'll react if he know i told them. i don't want him to think his own sister is trying to make him look insane

HobbesPal: ….ok

HarveyGal: you're an only child, i don't expect you to understand

HobbesPal: i don't know about being an only child. you've been something of a sister to me

HarveyGal: mom's telling me to wrapt his up. got to be ready for a new year at hogwarts

HobbesPal: i still think that's a weird name for a rich-man's school

HarveyGal: sky high doesn't strike me as a strong name either

HobbesPal: I guess it's comforting to know we didn't pick the names

HarveyGal: true. can i see you?

HobbesPal: how about tomorrow night? i'll have toothless pick us up. think that after a day at school, no matter if it's been good or bad, we'll need it

HarveyGal: youre right. good night

HobbesPal: g'night


	2. Chapter 2

**HobbesPal**

As soon as I was awake enough to understand what my parents were talking about, it came to me that they were both worrying over something. My father kept talking about his rival Banks (and for some reason thinking Banks' nephew could somehow help) and my mother talks about her high school friend (who's running out of steaks to fight?). Both seem to worry over a lot, but of course I have my own problems to deal with, so why should I bother with them? Like how it's not easy to get cleaned and brush you teeth, while your pet tiger keeps talking about how much fun school is. Why he still pretends to have ever gone to school, I'll never understand. If he did, he'd have done a much better job at helping with my homework, instead of always giving the wrong answer. I was lucky I didn't have to repeat first or second grade before I finally understood that Hobbes wasn't as smart as he said he is. I remember we had a long fight over this. I don't even remember how we made up. Or did we?

At the breakfast table, Mom thought it best to bring up all of her and Dad's problems in front of me. There was no way I could follow what they were saying. I know that parents argue, but that's what made this weird. They weren't arguing, they were just talking, each about something else, it seemed. Every next thing each of them said, sounded like they were talking about something that had nothing to do with what they said earlier. I couldn't keep track if I tried. So I didn't. I just finished breakfast as fast as I could, and ran to catch the bus.

With every stop it made, more and more people got on that I wasn't looking forward to see, but had to look at every day for the rest of the year. There was Harper, who asked me if I put in a good word for him with those two sisters who live down my street (if those two are werewolves as I think they are, why would he want to be with them?), there was Harper-the-girl and her always loyal pet dog Alex (some would say it's the other way around, but it's Alex who does most of the barking, so...), there's Parker, who no longer wore glasses, and several more that I didn't know, or didn't have a chance to recognize.

At school, I immediately searched for my locker. I immediately tried the new combination, which I hoped to memorize as fast as possible. As I opened it, somebody came up to me.  
"Hey dude!" it was Doug, "How was your summer?"  
"Nowhere near as excited as yours." I said.  
"Got that right." he replied, "Say, you heard of that Galaxy Quest movie they released just yesterday?"  
"What about it?"  
"You don't wanna see it?" he asked, "I heard it's pretty good. I overheard a bum mumble about how it's the greatest movie he's ever seen in his life."  
"You're trusting a bum's thoughts about a movie?" this surprised even me.  
"That's not the point." he replied, "I mean, what can you say about Galaxy Quest?"  
I opened my mouth, but he spoke before I could: "Well, really, everything!"  
Why did he ask the question if he wasn't about to let me answer?  
He continued: "It's a great vehicle for creative ideas! It's an onslaught of clichéd writing. Its characters are timeless and unforgettable! Their personalities are on par with the Kung Fu Kangaroos. It's one of the greatest works of sci-fi of all time! It's the corniest schlock you'll ever watch."  
I don't understand why he would sum up all the good things about the show, only to destroy them immediately after saying them: "So?"  
"But these days, with better writing and story-telling, who knows what they can do?"  
"Who cares about the new!" somebody else shouted as he approached us, "Nothing ever beats the old."  
"What do you know about movies, you nerd!?"  
Ah yes, the neverending rivalry between Doug and James. I would describe it as funny, but then Doug would think I'm making fun of his last name again.  
"Takes one to know one." another voice sounded. A girl's, whose voice was followed by footsteps, from both her and her two clones (she calls them friends, but really they are more like clones).  
"Isabella." I said.  
"BELLA!" she shouted at me.  
"Whatever you say, Swan." I know I seem rude here, but if you knew her as well as me, you'd be no different.  
"Show some respect!" one of her two friends told me (don't ask which one, I know one is called Ever, the other is Anastasia, but I have no idea which is which).  
"Sure." Doug said, "We'll show respect to a flat woman who thinks she's torn but is just pretentious."  
"She's the most popular girl at school." one of the other clones said.  
"And this is why I'm not interested in dating girls from this school." I said.  
"Sexist!" Isabella said.  
"Man, did you just come over here to argue?" James brought up.  
"I came here to let you nerds know we don't want you here."  
"We already know YOU don't want us here." I said.  
"And your background choir's contractually obligated to agree with you, so they don't want us here either."  
"What?!" Isabella exclaimed, while her two clones just stepped back, seemingly afraid of what Doug just said.  
"You'll apologize for that!" she demanded.  
The bell rang at that moment.  
"It'll have to wait, I'm afraid." Doug said, and I nodded agreeing.  
Classes haven't even started yet, and already two of my friends are fighting again, and the alpha bitch of the school just tried to mark her territory. I am SOOOOOO looking forward to the rest of the year.


	3. Chapter 3

**HarveyGal**

It may not sound unusual for me to say that I've spend more than thirty minutes picking my clothes, despite the fact that our school has a specific dress code, over another thirty minutes for my make-up, and a full hour deciding on what to wear when I see my friend tonight. But in all honesty, the real reason I've spent that much time on all that was because I was procrastinating breakfast. I didn't want to hear Mom trying to make small-talk with Oliver, hoping he'd tell us more about those five years he was on that island, which will just end with Oliver avoiding the question anyway. And of course Uncle Roger will be there to make matters worse one way or another, whether it's relevant to the discussion or not. And to think I used to be close to him once. A fact that Harvey likes to remind me of every time I speak ill of my uncle.

When I eventually did have breakfast, it was even worse than I thought. Oliver wasn't there, and judging from Mom's stern look and avoiding eye-contact, I knew it's because they fought. But while her argument with Oliver may have ended, his argument with Uncle Roger hadn't even begun until just a few seconds after I sat at the table.

The drive to school was no fun either. Even if I was old enough to drive, I'm not the only student who takes the car to school. So of course there'd be a traffic jam in the school's own property. Still, from where I was sitting, I could get a good view of who was arriving. Most students weren't locals, so they arrived with lots of baggage. Among them was the Hogwarts trio, Potter, Weasley and Granger. As soon as those three were about to enter, a smaller girl, with purple and red streaks in her hair chased after them. I hadn't seen her before, so she had to be a new student. As she ran, I saw two girls having an argument. Looks like the first day of a new school year makes everyone cranky, but in case of these two, it was to be expected. There's one girl, Shirley, whom people say she's thé Holmes' niece, or so she claims. The other is named Veronica, whose father used to be a police chief, until he got discharged, and became a private investigator. Of all people, it was that Grayson guy who stopped their argument. It still astounded me how a laid-back guy like that could end up at a prestigious school like this. How did he end their argument? By pointing them to an older man who just got out of... nowhere, it seemed. Anyway, I didn't know who this old man was, but since one of our teachers quit, which was a man in his twenties, who for some reason wore a bow-tie and sometimes a fez, I have to assume this old man is his replacement. The next one in a long line of replacements for...  
My thoughts were interrupted when somebody knocked on the driver's window.  
"Yes, ma'am?" he said after opening the window.  
"Oh, I'm sorry." I recognized the voice. It belonged to the only half-decent person in this school.  
"Rory!" I exclaimed.  
Rory turned her head to the back-seat: "Oh there you are."  
"What got you so excited?"  
"You haven't heard?" she said, "Peter Van Houten will be giving a lecture next week."  
"Really?" I heard of him before. He wrote just one book, and I knew Rory was crazy about it, as she always is about every book she read. So I understood why she would get so excited about him.  
"I can finally get some answers now." she said, "I'll finally know how his book ends."  
"Excuse me, miss, but I need to drive the car here." my driver, who's named Frank, told Rory.  
"That's okay, I'll just get out here." I said, as I picked up my bag and left the car.

As Rory and I walked up to the school building together, we came across two other boys. One of them was over-excited.  
"Will, did you see that new teacher?" he said.  
"Yeah." the one named Will replied, "He must've taken the job to bore himself to death faster."  
This reply caused the other guy, Carlton if I'm not mistaken, to frown.  
"You guys think this one'll last longer than a year?" Rory asked them.  
"Thank you, somebody who shows interest."  
"Well, ya know wha' they say." Will replies, "Short people think alike."  
Rory smiled, though more to Carlton's reaction than to Will's remark.  
"Oh good, some happy faces for a change." Grayson joined in, "Everyone else's been so grumpy today."  
"Yeah, how could they?" Carlton shared the surprise, "It's the first day at school."  
"Carlton, why do you ask questions if you're gonna answer them yourself?" Will asked.  
Grayson, trying to keep the peace, said: "What I meant was that you'd think people would try and make the best of the worst days."  
Knowing that Grayson's an orphan, it surprised me to see how optimistic he is about everything.  
"Well, I'd love to chat more, but we got classes we shouldn't miss." Rory reminded us.  
"Even if we'd want to." Will said, and besides Carlton we all laughed.  
With this, we went our separate ways.


	4. Chapter 4

**HobbesPal**

First class of the day, and already the one person I was looking forward to seeing is in the same class as me: Melinda. Last time I saw her, she told me she was going to Adventureland, where she had a summer job. She seemed excited about it at the time. But seeing her in class, she was looking down on her desk, her mouth hanging open, her head covered by her hood. She must have had so much fun at Adventureland, I thought to myself, or why else would she be sulking?  
"Hey, you want some advice? Go to her!"  
I turned to look at who was talking to me.  
"Hello, Cassandra." I exhaled audibly.  
"Why are you so annoyed with my advice?" she asked.  
"You're telling me to go to a girl, who clearly wants to be left alone?" I answered.  
"Nobody wants to be left alone." she explained, "I would know."  
"Hey! What's with the hoodie?" I heard that voice coming from Melinda's direction. I turned to look, and saw someone in a cheerleader outfit (already?).  
"I... really don't wanna talk about it." Melinda answered, with a hoarse voice.  
"Why not?" the cheerleader asked.  
No answer. I turned back to Cassandra: "She begs to differ."  
"Claire!" one boy, John Connor I think his name was, called from the the front of the class, and the cheerleader left Melinda alone, who breathed out in relief.  
"See?" I continued talking to Cassandra.  
"Are you sure you're not just looking for excuses?" she asked, "Where I'm from, if people want to be with someone, they don't hold back. Even my best friends, Eric and Shelly, if they held back, they would never have gotten together."  
The first thought that came to me was the fact that these friends of hers were dead. Knowing that it would be wrong of me to bring that up, I didn't want to say anything, which only created an awkward silence. Luckily, a camera flashed, breaking this awkward moment. We both looked, and saw Parker.  
"Did you have to use such a bright light?" Cassandra asked him.  
"Sorry." he replied, "I just thought this was worth a picture. I didn't have time to adjust the flash."  
As those two started talking, more and more people entered the classroom, just when the bell rings, and our teacher came up in front of the class.  
"Good morning." he growled for some reason, "I'm Mister Krueger, and this is Human Sciences."  
Why did Melinda giggle when she heard him say that?

As usually happens, even this teacher wanted us to come forward and talk about ourselves. One by one, several of us did that. John Connor, who wasn't at school often last year (making me wonder why he isn't held back for a year), said he hopes that this year won't be as eventful as last year, which made everybody laugh. Parker said he would... actually, I don't remember what he said. Somebody brought up that he was no longer wearing his glasses, to which he said he got contacts. Even if that were true, I've seen people who wear contacts before, their eyes always hurt, which was a problem Parker didn't seem to have. That cheerleader from before (she said her name was Claire) said she hopes to brighten everybody's day with her cheers. Again, Melinda snorted at that.  
"Miss..." Krueger motioned for her name.  
"Melinda." she told him.  
"Melinda." he repeated, "You care to share something with us?"  
She didn't say anything, nor did she shake her head or anything, telling us that she didn't want to say anything.  
"If you don't come forward now, you'll fail this class." Krueger said.  
This got her attention: "You can't do that!"  
"I can, and I will." Krueger replied.  
"No, she's right." I stood up for her, "If she's got nothing to say, you can't make her do it."  
"She was disrupting the class." he argued.  
"So did everybody after Connor spoke. Will you fail us all for that?" I said.  
"He's got a point there." Cassandra agreed with me.  
Several more began nodding their heads.  
"Well then..." Krueger said, "... it looks like you two needn't introduce yourselves anymore. I know exactly what I want to know."  
I didn't know what he meant by that. I turned my head to look at Melinda, hoping she'd have some answer at the ready. She didn't. Instead, she moved her mouth to look like she's saying "thank you".


End file.
